PM Abbasi departs for Pakistan, says Ishaq Dar is accompanying him

LONDON: Amid the speculations about Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s resignation and extending sojourn in London to evade accountability, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Sunday said that the finance minister would be accompanying him back to the country.

Talking to media persons before his departure to Pakistan via national-bound flight, Abbasi said that the finance minister would return to the country alongside him.

Earlier, there were reports that Dar had decided to extend his stay in London after National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed an appeal against Lahore High Court verdict in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case.

The court was hearing a reference filed by NAB against him for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.

During the proceedings, the anti-graft body pleaded before the court to issue arrest warrants of the finance minister for continuously evading court proceedings against him despite being summoned time and again.

Issuing directives for his arrest and produce him before the court till September 25, the accountability court also called for submission of surety bond worth Rs1 million to seek bail.

The anti-graft body has also made a written request to banks for freezing Dar’s accounts in connection with Hajveri Trust and the companies owned by him, sources said.

NAB Team raids Dar’s house in Islamabad

Subsequently, a NAB team raided finance minister Ishaq Dar’s house in Islamabad hours after an accountability court issued bailable arrest warrants against the PML-N stalwart.

According to ARY News correspondent Zulqarnain Haider, a NAB team raided Dar’s Islamabad house and questioned his servants.

The two member NAB team also delivered the summons under the directives of the accountability court.

The national anti-graft watchdog had filed references against the Sharif family and the finance minister in compliance with the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.

On July 28, the apex court had disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and ordered the filing of references against him, his children and the finance minister in light of the Panama joint investigation team report.